Robert Sivell, 1888 - 1958

Opinionated, irascible, fond
husband and father, and a fine but often frustrated painter.

Sivell'sinterest in an art career started early, however he
was not able to pursue art full time for many years. He entered the
Glasgow School of Art in 1908, but left early, in 1910, due to
financial pressures. Between the need to help pay for his younger
brother's education, and the advent of the first World War, he was
sidetracked for several years working as an apprentice engineer. He
returned full time to the pursuit of art in 1916, and there were a
fairly tempestuous few years in Glasgow, as he and his peers struggled
with the local art establishment, and among themselves.

He and several artist friends founded their own arts
organization, the Glasgow Society of Painters & Sculptors, in order
to exhibit their work, in response to being excluded from a prestigious
annual exhibit by the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, which
generated some publicity and attention. However the Society did not
last long, due to internal disagreement about artistic standards and
policies.

Sivell's art was primarily realistic, and he followed the
traditions of Renaissance art; he never adopted popular European
styles. This put him at odds with the prevalent Glasgow academic and
Impressionist traditions. Over time he identified more with the trends
in art originating from Edinburgh, which was a center of Scottish art
and culture, where he was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy, first
as an Associate in 1936 then as an Academician in 1943.

Sivell sold many works of art, painted a number of
commissioned portraits, and received several exhibitions and awards. He
also taught art throughout much of his career, first as head of drawing
and painting at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen. Teaching provided him
with a salary, but also earned him some acclaim as an instructor. It is
through the work of his students that his ideas and ideals may have
continued on beyond his death in 1958. His work is known only among a
small circle of Scottish art historians, and art students. The most
well known work is probably a series of murals that still grace the
building on Gallowgate that was the student union of Aberdeen
University.

The Artist at Work

The murals at Aberdeen University student union are in what
was a large student pub, which was named Sivells in his honor. The
building has been sold by the University, and although the paintings
are deemed historic and have some protection, this part of the building
has been unused for many years. The murals have been restored, and can
still be seen today by those who manage to make special arrangements to
do so. The mural work started in 1938, initially to be works of senior
local art students. After problems, Robert Sivell took over the
project, and directed its completion over the course of many years. The
conception and designs were his, although much of the painting was done
by his students from tracings of his drawings. Some of the completed
studies for the mural, generally oil on board, are now in the
possession of the Aberdeen Art Gallery, and are more detailed and
finished in rendering than the wall murals.

Most of Sivell's paintings are in oil on wood panel, although
some canvases exist. He did many portraits or studies of people, which
he seems to have preferred over landscape painting, although this may
have to do with the many portrait commissions he recieved. His works
are very lifelike, but he generally used a rather dark pallette, and
some seem brooding and austere. They are not always comfortable to be
around.

Sivell was described as a man of conviction, and even
certainty on the subject of art, and by some as a difficult and
sarcastic man. It seems he had a temper, and fell out with people from
time to time. However his portraits show an appreciation for beauty,
and a bit more. An oil sketch of his only daughter as a young child,
asleep, captures a child's sweetness in a way that touches the heart. A
portrait of my aged great grandfather nodding off in his chair, titled
"Twilight", captures a quiet moment that seems to represent acceptance
of life ending, and is embued with a subtle beauty.

The family owns a lovely
charcoal and crayon portrait of the nurse he was commissioned to
paint by the Imperial War Museum, it is probably a study for that
portrait of Nurse Violet Reed: very similar to the one commissioned to
capture the spirit and dedication of nurses during World War II.

Following the death of Elspeth, the artist's daughter, the
family has donated the artist's self-portrait and two small portraits
of his parents to The Stewartry Museum in Kirkcudbright. The Stewartry
already owns a few works by the artist, including a lovely portrait of
Elspeth as Girl
in a Wood. Robert Sivell made his family home across the river from
Kirkcudbright, and he and his wife Isobel were buried on the slope
behind their home, The Hollow, Stell, Kircudbright.